Six Degrees of Seperation
by SlinkyT
Summary: It is said that by using six people you can be connected to anybody in the world. Some people like to find these connections for amusement, in this case it was just fact. This isn't a Klaine story, but about how they are connected without knowing it
1. Blaine

A/N: This is just me experimenting with some writing style I've wanted to try. Not romance or anything really but just…writing, if that makes any sense. Plus, I've just wanted to start writing again. Period. Sorry for that by the way, the whole, not writing thing. Well, here it is.

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><p>It is said that anybody can be connect to anybody in the world by six people. A short chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements and you're meeting somebody on the other side of the world. Some people do it for amusement, a game, the person you start with is required to be a personal acquaintance. Only in this instance it wasn't a game. It was just fact.<p>

Blaine Everett Anderson turned 7 years old today. His mop of hair, jet black at this age, hung down to the collar of his shirt. The icing from his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cake was smeared on his cheeks like somebody put it on like lotion. His teeth were dyed a pale blue from the icing but it didn't phase him, why would it, he's 7 today. He wore a pair of basketball shorts and a shirt that resembled his cartoon cake. It's was an exceptionally warm summer day and the sprinklers were spraying mists of water into the air for the herd of children to run through. Their hands and cares were thrown into the sky as the water fell back to the now damp earth. Childhood giggles echoed through the yard and their parents sat admiring, recalling their childhood fantasies. A couple sat peacefully around a patio table with a few other daring adults who volunteered to stay and supervise. Small smiles were playing on their lips while watching their boy, of course they would be smiling, their son turned 7 today.

"I remember when I was that age. When I didn't care whether my clothes were stained, or if I was barefoot running in the mud. When I could just go out and have fun, you know?" The woman who spoke the words had straight hair the same shade as her son's, her hand was intertwined with her husband's who sat his tight, light brown curls hanging loosely in his face, square rimmed glasses framing his hazel eyes. He continued to gaze at the children. He nodded, not uttering a word. The dark haired woman looked at him longing for him to pick up the conversation with his usual comedic tone but all she could hear was the continuing squeal of the kids.

Lately her husband had seemed disconnected, distant. The couple's friends had noticed the change recently as well, but they dared not mention out loud. All the thoughts were shared through obscure glances and hushed, hidden whispers. Everybody knew that he had a temper and they if they were to mention his disconnection he would either go off on them or start falsely participating just to prove them wrong, he was just that kind of guy. After a moment of silence a call came from the yard.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Blaine yelled from the yard. His father snapped from his trance and saw his son smiling, his blue stained teeth showing from ear to ear. The older man sat up straighter in his chair and looked to his son. "Look! Daddy! I can jump the sprinkler!" he said pointing to the origin of the squirting water.

"Go for it, son!" he called back and reached his hand over to rest it on his other hand that was holding his wife's. Blaine got in his starting stance, much like that of an Olympic track runner, and focused. He licked his lips and stared down the sprinkler like it was his mortal enemy. He licked his lips and wiped the hair that was plastered to his face out of his eyes. All the other kids just stared in awe at the amazing feat the birthday boy was about to attempt. He took the first step forward and began his run, his feet squished on the soaked ground and his hair flew our of his face. The kids blurred in his peripheral and the small obstacle approached him quickly. He pumped his arms faster and he jumped. There wasn't much he could do but jump, so he did. His feet rose up and then all too soon hues of green came rushing towards his face after he felt a sharp hit in his ankle. His arm instinctively reached out in front of him and caught himself.

Immediately, he was fine, he stood up smiling and threw a thumbs up to his dad and the rest of the parents who were applauding his miraculous recovery, but when he took a step forward his ankle gave out under him. He felt a sharp pain in his foot and before anybody could react tears were streaming down his cheeks and a blood curdling scream escaped his lips.

His father rose from his chair and ran to his son, abruptly dropping his wife's hand, while she stood gasping. He strode across the lawn, with each step radiating power. The father reached down and scooped up his son as if he weighed nothing. He walked back in the direction of his wife who was now frantically running her hands through her hair and waiting the short seconds before her husband was standing beside her again.

"You take him to the Emergency Room and I'll wait until the other kids leave." she said looking at all the kids who now had worried looks on their faces. She was then interrupted.

"No, no, you need to go with him we'll stay here and make sure the kids get home." said a small blonde mother. Blaine's mom just nodded her head quickly while she scurried after her husband who still held the crying boy. They got in the and the father, Daniel, laid his son gently in the backseat and pulled the buckle over him and clicked the seatbelt. He ran around to the front seat and started the car only to notice his wife, Erica, was having fumbling with the buckle. He then reached over and clicked her seat belt and immediately buckled his. There was not much they could do on the car ride over, Erica turns back to face her son and consoles him with soft whispers while he is screaming and crying in pain. Daniel couldn't take it anymore and while looking from the road to the back of the car again and again.

"Hey." he said his voice stern and filled with authority. Blaine looked up at him sniffling and tears still pouring down his face. "You need to calm down, okay?" he said soothingly and his wife looked at him, wondering what he was about to say next. "Now, I need you to be brave, okay?" Blaine nodded in the backseat and sniffled and continued to whimper softer until they arrived at the hospital. Daniel pulled the car into the parking space quickly and went around to pick Blaine up again from the backseat. They walked fast, their feet carrying them at a fast walking pace, the last thing they wanted was for Blaine to panic more if they started running into the ER.

Erica walked over to the triage desk and started to fill out the mind numbing paperwork. Daniel carried Blaine and sat down in one of the uncomfortable waiting rooms chairs. He put Blaine beside him and felt helpless as his boy continued to cry and whimper. What are you supposed to do when your kid is hurt and you can't help? What was HE supposed to do, as his father? He couldn't think of anything but to give him a pep talk. Even though he wasn't the pep talk kind of guy, he gave it a shot.

"Hey, I'm proud of you." Daniel said looking into his son's eyes that reflected his like a mirror. Blaine's little face scrunched in confusion as he reached up and wiped snot from under his nose. "For being brave," he continued. Blaine nodded, acting like he knew what his father was saying, he then reached his short arms out and gave his dad a hug and his father's arms wrapped around him like a shelter and he felt safe, of course still hurt, but safe. He sniffled and turned his face unintentionally wiping a mixture of snot and tears on his shirt. Daniel smiled, Blaine was definitely hurt, but he could get over it, his bone would heal. Daniel looked to his wife who scribbled furiously on the papers, eyebrows furrowed and tears streaks fading on her pale skin. He didn't think the mistake he made would ever heal. Erica didn't know, god no, she could never find out. If she did their family would fall apart, and he could not let that happen.

His family was his last hope, if he were to lose his job, lose his house, he knew he would always have his son and his wife. He wasn't going to let his mistake change that.

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><p>Blaine dug through his mound of possessions laying in his bedroom floor. His bedroom resembled any other teenagers, it wasn't meticulously clean but not particularly a trash dump either, except for today. He was supposed to be packing for a weekend trip to some distant relative's he'd never met before. For some reason he couldn't find his iPod, the most prized possession of our dearest Blaine Anderson. Filled to the brim with the likes of Marilyn Manson to Bach. How he had managed to misplace it he wouldn't know, it was always in his back pocket, his sweatshirt pocket, somewhere. But that morning, before piling into the car, he instinctively reached into his back pocket, only to find the lint from the dryer camping in the bottom. He instantly about faced and bounded up the stairs as if there were no tomorrow and grabbed every shred of clothing or every belonging that had ever touched his closet and tossed it in to the middle of the floor. It wasn't the most practical way to go about finding it, but he was sure it would had to have been left in some other article of clothing he had worn the day before.<p>

He just wasn't quite sure where he would find that. He started throwing everything form t-shirts to loafers around his room and still could not find his lost item anywhere. He threw open the door of his closet once more, pulled the light switch, and looked around. All he found was a small green plastic hand poking out from under a lone t-shirt abandoned on his closet floor.

"What is that?" he muttered while bending down to reach the little plastic hand. He carefully plucked the unknown object off the floor and a realization came over him and he tossed back into the back of his closet it hitting the back wall with a loud bang. He heard the car horn honk warning him that if he didn't get downstairs soon he would have hell to pay. He about faced leaving the small toy behind and spotted what he was looking for right in front of his face. He groaned and scooped his iPod off his beside table and slid it naturally into his back pocket.

He buckled his seat belt. Upstairs in his closet lay the small toy, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure. Blaine couldn't place the name of the character or really recall the plot of any of the shows, even though it had been such a vital part of his childhood. He only remembers when he go the thing, his 7th birthday. His father got it for him after they left the hospital that day and Blaine toted it around for weeks, months, until his father stopped showing up. Then, he just saw his dad on the weekends, and then not at all and so he never saw the action figure again. Until today. He was unsure how it managed to get in his closet, he hadn't seen it in years, but there it was, now laying in his closet like a throbbing reminder of what happened. Blaine but on a uncaring face and put his headphones in his ears, turning up the volume to where all could he was the loud bass droning out the sounds of traffic around them.


	2. Daniel

Six Degrees of Seperation

AN: I'm SOOOOOOO sorry for the late update. I can just never manage to get on and type up my stories in one sitting. But, I finally did, so here you go, the next chapter to Six Degrees of Seperation. (: And just a clue for the next chapter, it will be called Tiffany. :) PLEASE review, the more people that do, the sooner I write. :)

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><p>It is said that anybody can be connect to anybody in the world by six people. A short chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements and you're meeting somebody on the other side of the world. Some people do it for amusement, a game, the person you start with is required to be a personal acquaintance. Only in this instance it wasn't a game. It was just fact.<p>

The brown haired man rolled over in his bed. The absence of his wife was obvious as he looked over to see an empty half of the bed. He groaned. He knew, whenever she wasn't there when he woke up, something was wrong, as it had been recently. It was two weeks before his son's 7th birthday and things had been going downhill, but he hated to admit it, he wanted that . He threw the covers down past his feet. He lay still for a minute and thought of what he would say to his wife about what he was planning to do. Oh! Work late. He didn't do that often. He had to work late on a proposal with…Damn. That's the fallout. He had to either pick somebody she didn't know or somebody she would never ask. Jacob. Obscure enough. There were at least for in the office. Now, what were they proposing? Integrating green programs into the business environment. Perfect.

He sat up in bed and saw the bathroom light streaming from under the door. There she is. He stood up and strode over to the door and raised his hand to knock. Wait, knock? He was in his own house. His wife was in there. He reached down to the door knob only to receive an unsatisfying click in return. She had locked the door. He stood for a moment in a strange daze of confusion. He shook his head, messing up his hair and his thoughts, and then knocked lightly on the wood of the door. He heard a more enjoyable click of the lock. He opened the door and his petite wife stood before him.

"Hey, babe," he said and crossed behind her, facing the mirror. His hands wrapped around her waist and he placed open mouth kisses on her exposed neck. She sighed and her head leaned back, her eyes closed, a smile playing on her lips.

"Hey," she said, content with the current situation, apparently having gotten over their recent fight. "You need to get ready for work," she said with a soft expression on her face. He nodded and they moved around the house in a silent charade, going through the motions of a happily married couple. Their son woke up and participated in the act as well, eating his breakfast, and letting his hair fly awry, however it was when he woke up. Erica and Blaine got into the car, a smile plastered on the small woman's face. She wished her son a good day at school and watched him, genuinely happy, as he ran to the front doors of the building.

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><p>At the Anderson residence Daniel contemplated calling that number in his phone labeled Sam. To his wife, Sam was just another co-worker, a person to which she had not associated a face or any deeming characteristics. To Daniel Anderson, that number meant much more. It was what could be the straw that broke the camel's back regarding his marriage. It may be cliché but Samantha was that girl at the office. The 20-something year old blonde. The one that all the executives got distracted by when she entered a room. The one that had asked him if he wanted to meet for a drink one night, a week ago, and then proceeded to suggest they "go back to her place" afterwards.<p>

He hesitated in responding to her. It was obvious what she was suggesting and the thought made his groin ached just looking at her perfect curves. It didn't make sense to him why she asked, but he was too distracted by the luscious expanse of skin exposed by her low cut shirt, which was covered by a form fitting blazer. He swallowed nervously and suggested exchanging numbers so he could get back to her some time this week. She did so and winked before turning to leave, his eyes following her swaying hips and that perfectly firm a-He abruptly stopped his thoughts and tried to shake them from his head. He was married for god's sake. Although, him not wearing his wedding band due to recent marital quarrels had probably stirred some water cooler conversations, and, in turn, lead Samantha to him.

Now, here he sat on his couch, the number in his phone from that day exactly a week prior. His fingers hesitating over the green dial button. He didn't know why, and probably couldn't explain it with and form of logic if anybody asked, but her called her.

The whole ordeal was strange. Like he was arranging a hooker instead of date. Wasn't he? He called and she answered with that sultry tone she had and continued, without pause for him to reply, that they would meeting at a bar, just a few blocks away from his home. Their "conversation" was very one-sided, him not having time to react before she said she had to go. He nodded silently on his end of the receiver.

"Daniel, are you there?" She asked sweetly.

"Oh, um, yeah, great, see ya," He replied anxiously, his throat dry from the nervousness.

"Bye, Daniel," She said with a breathy tone, causing his thoughts to go crazy.

What had he just done? He had one more call to make about his recent engagements but, if he didn't leave the house now he would be late for work. He got in his car, hooked up his Bluetooth and continued on to work, calling his wife on the way. He had no experience in lying to Erica, well maybe some, but not like this.

"Hey, Honey," He said with just a hint of sadness in his voice.

"What is it, Daniel?" She asked directly, knowing something was up.

"Jacob called as I was walking out the door and he said he needed help with a proposal and that he was wondering if I could stay late, it was an offer I couldn't refuse." He heard a sigh from the other end and took that as a sign a resignation.

"I'm sorry, babe." He said quickly. At the other end of the call she was nodding her head.

"It's okay, you don't stay late often," She replied with disappointment. It was true, he didn't, she could handle when he came home late, but she always hated Blaine's crushed face when his father didn't sit down at dinner with them.

"I'll try to be home as soon as possible, but it may get late, so don't wait up," he said coming up with that on the spot, almost forgetting the time restraints that would develop if he had to be home by dinner. "It's a very important proposal about integrating green programs," he finished apologetically.

"I guess I'll see you when you come home tonight? Or I guess in the morning when I wake up?" She said and you could hear the resolve in her voice.

"Yeah. I love you, Er." He said almost regretting his decision in this minute but that thought washed away quickly.

"Love you, too." She said as if she were required. That's how it had been recently, their interactions disconnected and lost.

He hung up the phone and now a feeling of accomplishment came over him, as he realized he just got away with it. He pulled into the parking lot and continued on with the patterns of his work day, his mind intensely focused on something not related to integrating green programs.

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><p>There was an awkward silence at the dinner table that same night, only the sounds of clinking silverware filling the voice.<p>

"Mommy," Blaine said quietly, stirring his peas with his spoon without a purpose.

"Yes, Sweetie?" She replied, having an idea what her son's concern was.

"When's Daddy coming home?" He asked, piercing her with his hazel eyes that reflected his father's perfectly.

"I don't know, Blaine." She said seriously with a small shake of her head. They sat for a short moment before she made up her mind. She rose form the table silently, not saying a word to her young boy as she walked over to the phone. She dialed the number that had made it's way into her muscle memory, to where she didn't even have to look at the buttons. She heard the line pick up and waited for the greeting.

"Hello, my name is Jennifer, how may I help you?" said a uniform receptionist voice. She always called the desk and got transferred over to his line.

"Hi, I'm Erica, Daniel's wife," she said warily, not sure if she remembered hearing this voice when she called before. "I need to talk to Daniel?" She said more as a question.

"One moment, please." She replied and the tone of elevator music began playing. It was only a few moments until she head the click of the line being picked up.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," she replied with a tone of sympathy, "He's not in the office right now."

Erica's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "He told me he had to work late," she replied succinctly. At this point, she was worried, not angry yet, but she was soon to find out the real situation.

"Well, he's not here," a twinge of annoyance entering her voice.

"But he.." Erica started before she was so rudely interrupted by the other woman.

"Look, it's late, I'm tired, I want to go home, and it's really not my fault if your husband had other plans tonight." She was now extremely irritated. She was new to the company and had no idea who Daniel was but knew he'd left a while ago, and even if she wasn't new it wasn't her job to get into the realm of her co-worker's social lives. Erica quickly flustered by the secretary's assumption.

She went to dial a different number. Daniel's cell. She was going straight to the source even if he was at work like he claimed.

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><p>"Get out! Get out of my house!" The yells filled the room. You wouldn't imagine such loud noises coming form such a small person, but she was furious. "Go stay with your little slut!" She screamed spitting out the last word as if it were poison. She pulled the drawers out of her and her husband's shared dressing, throwing clothes at him, still yelling for him to leave as he tried to explain. She had found out the truth about where Daniel was that night a few weeks ago. At the time he'd answered he was in his car, saying he was going to meet Jacob for dinner instead of at the office, when actually, she later discovered, he was going to a bar to be with some whore.<p>

"Erica but, I…" He said holding his hands up to shield his face as he backed out of their bedroom.

"But nothing!" She was full of rage, tears streaming down her pale face. She heard small footsteps behind her and they both froze in their actions. Erica turned to see their small 7 year old standing sleepily and rubbing his eyes.

"Mommy?" He asked his small voice drowsy.

"Yes, baby," She said wiping her eyes and dropping to her knees to be even with her son. His face contorted in confusion.

"Are you okay?" He said softly and moved his small hand to her tear stained cheek. She lightly, trying to make him feel better, and placed her hand on his. She nodded silently, her words caught in her throat. She finally choked out her words.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said tears now brimming her eyes.

"Daddy?" Blaine said and looked past his mom's shoulder to his father. Daniel nodded his head, not saying a word. He hated for this to happen to his son, watch his parents fight like this. He'd just gotten past his injury from his birthday party and here he was causing another injury, that could eventually end in a much more painful result.

"Daddy, is going to have to go away for a while," Erica said looking in those hazel eyes, tears now spilling on to her cheeks. Her son removed his hand, his face now in concentration. He walked over to Daniel and wrapped his arms around his dad, Erica's eyes following him the whole way.

"Bye, Daddy," he mumbled, his face buried into his father. Daniel bent down his hands holding his son's shoulders.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," He watched his son nod, focusing only on the words he was saying. "Take care of Mommy, okay?" Daniel said, his eyes flashing over to meet Erica's and then back to his son, who continued to nod. "I love you, Blaine," he said and kissed him on the forehead. To which is son murmured a tired response. "Now, got to bed," He watched as his son walked off to his room, still sleepy, would he even remember this?

Erica looked at the lying, cheating, but hell of a father in front of her.

"Bye, Daniel," she said not breaking the seriousness in her gaze. Up until now, he had been wanting a second chance, but now he realized he didn't deserve it. And her concise statement confirmed he wouldn't be getting one.

He turned to leave the house to which he would occasionally return to. Then in time, in his mind, would cease to exist at all.


End file.
